ElBaradei lists the problems facing Egypt, including poverty, illiteracy, and being listed as a failed state, while people live in a state of fear and repression where democracy has been denied to its people. Young people have been preparing for this moment through the Internet, which gave them opportunities for expression and assembly that their government did not. The tipping point was the Tunisian revolution, which sent them the message that they, too, could succeed. President Mubarak can no longer hold on to power that is no longer his, ElBaradei says. He outlines the actions needed next to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition of power to a new Egypt based on freedom and social justice.

ElBaradei, as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. He is the author of the forthcoming book “The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times.”

Bankers are once again doing well in the financial sector but businesses and consumers are not, which is leading to popular anger, especially as the bonus round is about to be paid. Coyle says that Project Merlin, which the British government hopes will smooth relations between the country’s banks, politicians, and the electorate, does not address the fundamental problem that Britain’s banks are uncompetitive. Competition reform, along with replacement of the complex regulations that act as barriers to entry, are now the only ways forward for the banking industry. Coyle says we need a healthy undergrowth of smaller financial institutions to balance the existing monoculture of vulnerable giants, but Project Merlin will not deliver this.

Events in the Middle East have taken the world by surprise. Even Israel’s formidable intelligence services and strong self-interest were unable to predict such a development. As the Egyptians have taken center stage, the protesters’ enduring nationalism must be taken as an encouraging sign: their hope is expressed positively rather than negatively against their national identity. The United States must be careful not to take a paternalistic approach to events in the region so that it does not alienate a new generation of leaders and states.

Will is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post and approximately 400 other newspapers, writing about foreign and domestic politics and policy.

The Egyptian army is, for the moment, staying neutral, but Friedman wonders if it will stay loyal to Mubarak or establish the army as the guarantor of a peaceful transition to democracy. In order for the second scenario to unfold, people need to see that the uprising is post-ideological, unlike Iran’s 1979 revolution. In Egypt the protests are about Egypt depriving its people of political rights and being forced to live with a declining standard of living. Rather than asking for Palestine or Allah, Egyptians are asking for the right to their own future.

Developments in Egypt over the last two weeks have prompted O’Grady to think of Cuba and ask why a similar rebellion against five decades of repression there still appears to be a far-off dream. Part of the answer is in the relationship between the Castro brothers–Fidel and Raúl–and the generals. The rest is explained by the regime’s significantly more repressive model. Castro has bought loyalty from the secret police and military by giving them control of the three most profitable sectors of the economy–retail, travel, and services. In Cuba there are no opposition political parties, no access to the Internet, and rapid response brigades enforce the party line. Despite their unceasing efforts, Cubans can only dream about the freedoms Egyptians enjoy as they voice their grievances.

The world is in the midst of a food crisis, and this has triggered rage in the Middle East, causing inflation (though not yet in the US) and impacting the world’s poor, Krugman says. The American right and the Chinese blame easy-money policies at the Federal Reserve and France blames speculators for the high prices, but Krugman says severe weather has disrupted agricultural production and could be attributed to greenhouse gases. He says if climate change is to blame, this is just the beginning.

President Obama’s call for a major technological push for cleaner energy could be realized if decision-making is left in private hands and the jobs created will be in the private sector. Such a policy would not cost taxpayers a dime and would eventually reduce the federal budget deficit. Blinder says the “bang for the buck” from a phased-in CO2 levy would be infinite at first–lots of jobs at zero cost to the federal budget. Up to now our country has done next to nothing to curb CO2 emissions. A stiff tax would make a world of difference. Blinder promises that the US will eventually succumb to the inexorable logic of a phased-in CO2 tax, if you’re young enough to live that long.

Blinder, a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and vice chairman of the Promontory Interfinancial Network, is a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Job creation is slow and difficult, especially in the aftermath of a recession. Companies are understandably reluctant to invest a great deal in new employees. In the president’s State of the Union speech, he used the word “jobs” 31 times but did not offer specifics on investment, competitiveness, and the deficit. Nonetheless, the economy is on a decidedly upward track and America’s productivity is still high (it grew 20 percent between 2000 and 2009). We should not “tinker with the labor market,” Rattner advises, nor should American leaders balk at addressing those necessary specifics (such as higher taxes and entitlement spending) that are essential to confronting the budget deficit.

Rattner, a co-founder of the investment firm Quadrangle Group, served as counselor to the Treasury secretary and lead auto adviser in the Obama administration.

Ez-Eldin was present during the beginning of the protests in Egypt and says those who began it and organized via Facebook and twitter it are angry at police cruelty and the repression and torture from Mubarak’s regime. He says it is not a plot of the Muslim Brotherhood. He reviews how the government used violence–including live ammunition–against peaceful protestors to prevent an ouster as in Tunisia, and the chaos that has devolved. He says silence is a crime and Egyptians will find a way to have their voices heard to the world to demand freedom and justice.

Mansoura Ez-Eldin is the author of the novels “Maryam’s Maze” and “Beyond Paradise.”